Edge shearing device



Oct. 4, 1932. Q, 3 RICHARDSQN 1,880,487

EDGE'SHEARVI'NG DEVICE FilgdfiMgrch 4, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 (Z 'fP m Oct. 4, 1932. c. G. RICHARDSON 1,880,487

EDGE SHEARING DEVICE Filed March 4, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 atforfleg ixmmm npnnup Patented Oct. 4, 1932 Unites stares Parana eerie-E CHARLES RICHARDSON, F SPRINGFIELD, VER-IVIQNT, ASSIGNOB TO PARKS &1

WOOLSON MACHINE COMPANY, OF SPRELNGEIELD, VERMONT,

VERMONT SHEARING DEVICE 7 Application filed March 4, 1931. Serial at. 520,012.

This invention relates to devices for shearing the threads that project from the side edges or selvage of woven cloth such as may be left after the loop threads, formed at the 'selvage in an automatic pattern loom, are cut or that may be formed as a result of other modes of weaving. The shearing or cutting off of these threadsprojecting weftwise'from the cloth is attended with Considerable difi- 1U 'culty because of the danger of cutting the edge of the cloth itself, as it swerves in and out on either side, and for that reason this edge shearing is usually done by hand.

The present invention is intended to pro- 'vide a simple edge shearing device constructed and arranged to insure the shearing of all the projecting threads, while at'the same time protecting the cloth edge from injury by the cutter.

In a general Way the invention comprises a fly blade or cutter mounted to rotate about a vertical axis in association with a relatively fixed tangential blade combined with a cloth protecting guide, which prevents the 'cloth from swerving against the cutting knives while means are employed for directing or moving the'threads outwardly away from the edge of the cloth into the path of the cutter.

in the provision of means controlledby the cloth for automatically shifting the edge protecting guide and the shear blades with the cloth as the cloth edge swerves in and out,

s'so that the shearing line of the shearing couple is always maintained close to the adjacent edge of the clothtravelling by as the cloth swerves in or out.

These and other features of the invention will be particularly described in the following specification and will be defined in the claims hereto annexed.

In the accompanying drawings I have Another feature of the invention consists the machine, parts being removed or broken away to better show details of construction.

Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 2, parts being sectioned or broken away to better illustrate details.

Fig. 4c is a detail View in vertical cross section showing the protective guide embrac ing the edge of the cloth adjacent to the shearing couple.

Fig. 5 is rear elevation, partly in section, illustrating the principalparts of the shearing mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 6 and Fig. Y are detail views showing in rear elevation and in plan, respectively, the shearingcutter in association .with the protective cloth guide. Fig. 8 is a rear elevation with parts broken away and sectioned showing the automatic feeler and adjusting mechanism by which the shearing couple and the protective guide are A conrona'rlon on caused to follow the lateral swerving movements of the cloth. 1

Fig. 9 is a detail view of the pivotal dog which acts as a feeler to shift the shear carsuitable construction to support the various parts of the machine including the edge she'ar-' ing attachment.

travels rearwardly, said table being cut on either side, as shown at l, to form a space for Ulle inward movement of the shearing and associated parts, as well as to allow the inward adjustment of those parts to accommodate narrower Widths of cloth. Fixedto the frame a is atransverse bracket or beam 2 of U-shape in cross section, whose vertical In said frame is mounted, a horizontal table 1 over which the cloth' sides are provided with a pair of upper anti friction bearing rolls?) and a pair of lower anti-friction bearing rolls 4 between which are slidingly supported the slide bars 5 of a carriage formed by these slide bars and an outer tie bar 5, thus making a rectangular frame slidable transversely of the cloth on which are mounted the shearing couple and the protective guides. 7

Intermediate of its ends this carriage is provided with a cross bar 6 to which is secured a downwardly depending angular bracket 6*, whose lower offset end is provided with a vertical slideway forming a bearing guide for a vertical slide bar 7, which is provided at its lower end with a foot 7 in which is mounted a bearing ball 7 resting upon, and supported by, an eccentric cam 8 secured to a rotary shaft 8, said cam having sufficient axial length to support the bearing ball as the carriage which carries the slide moves in and out to follow the lateral swerving of the cloth. A topcbearing 9 serves tosteady the vertical slide bar and it will be understood that this slide bar forms the support for the shearing couple, the object being to reciprocate or traverse the rotary cutter vertically across the line of the cloth, so that substantially the whole width, or more properly the vertical height of the cutting edges, may be utilized to distribute wear on the cutter.

The shearing couple comprises a rotary fly blade, that is, a cutter provided with peripheral helical blades, secured to a vertical driving shaft 14 and a relatively fixed tangential blade 12 which is carried by a supporting plate or block 12 which is adustably secured ting edge of the blade 12 so that by the right angle adjustment of the two members of the shearing couple proper coordination thereof and adjustment in relation to the protective guard, later to be described, may be secured. V

The fly blade shaft 14' extends down through a bearing head 15 provided with a horizontal slide 16 having a horizontal dovetail sliding engagement with a supporting bracket 17, that is securely fastened also to the vertically movable carrier slide 7.

Alubricating strip 18 of leather and oiled felt is attached to the bearing head of the rotary fly blade to liein light contact therewith, which'serves to clear the blade of lint, keep'its edges smooth and provide a slight lubrication of the edges of the individual I to the inside of the carriage members 5. On

this horizontal bridge or bracket 10 is se- 7 cured the lower or base member 20 of a sheet metal guide, which at its outer end is formed with an upstanding flange 20 which forms an exterior stop limiting the outward moveinent of the cloth passing over its horizontal member. Adjustably secured in spaced relation to the lower protective cloth guide is the upper cloth guide member 21, which also has an upstanding vertical flange 21 which is bolted to the corresponding flange 20 of the lowerguide in such position of vertical adjustment as to leave an appropriate spacing between the horizontal members of these coacting guides between which the edge portion of the cloth travels in a horizontal plane. To prevent the penetration of the extreme edge of the cloth between the two vertical flanges 20 and 21 a'portion of the flange 21 is struck out to form a tongue 21*.adapted to pass through a registering aperture 20 formed in the flange 20 and dimensioned to permit the necessary vertical adjustment of theupper guide 21 to accommodate cloth of different thickness.

Directly subtending the line of the shears, as shown in Fig. 7, a lateral window or opening, as shown at 22, is provided by omitting at this point the upstanding flanges so as to expose the threads projecting from the edge of the cloth to the action of the shearing couple. V In order to direct these threads, which may be right against the bottom or against the top faces of the cloth, outwardly beyond the cloth edge and into the shearing line, I provide upper and lower air blast tubes 23 p and 24-. It'will often be found advantageous to have more than one pair of these air blast tubes arranged at a convenient distance in advance of the-aperture or window through which the threads are projected into the shearing line in order to insure moving or blowing the threads outward to the edge of the cloth. f

It will be found very advantageous to prevent objectionable wrinkling orfolding up of the cloth to provide the inner advance corner of the upper guide plate 21 with an up turned integral lip 21. this has a very beneficial effect in preventing trouble due to wrinkling of the cloth when it is under restraint or control of the protective guide. I i V The fly blade or revolving shear element 13 is driven by means of a pulley 14 secured to the lower end of the fly blade shaft 14: and driven by a round belt 14",.which passes over idler pulleys 14 loosely mounted on a trans- I have found that the machine not herein shown. The idler pulleys 14 are spaced a sufficient distance to the rear of the pulley 14 to allow the re-' voiving shear to travel in and out with the carriage, the relatively short distance of the carriage traverse (usually not more than four or five inches), so that theeifioiency of the driving belt is no impaired by the relatively slight change of position of the pulley 14.

To collect the fly or lint produced by cutting ofi the threads, I provide acasing 30 around the fly blade 13 and provide this casing with anoiitake nozzle 31 adapted to receive a porous bag into which the lint will be blown or beconneoted with an exhaust pipe through which the air is sucked thereby drawing the fiy to a suitable receptacle and the same time aiding the blast nozzles to project the threads "outwardly beyond the edge of the cloth.

In order that the shearing elements and the associated protective guide may promptly follow the swerviiig movements of the cloth ec ge, I provide carriage shitting feeler actuated mechanism, in this case having a feeler finger normally engaging the edge of the cloth and acting to control the movement of the carriage in correspondence with the swerving of the cloth. As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig.8, double ratchet bars elO, ll having their ratchet teeth inclined in relatively opposite directions are rapidly reciprocated by means ofa pitman rod 42 pivotally attached at its inner end to the bars and at its outer end to an eccentric pin l3 projecting from a pulley 44, which may be driven by abelt or other suitable means to cause rapid vibration of the ratchet bars. Secured to the slidable carriage 5 is a; forwardly extending bearing centers for supporting a double ratchet pawl 16 comprising one arm 46* adapted to engage one of the ratchet bars and be actuated thereby, and another arm or finger 46 laterally offset to hook into the oppositely inclined ratchet teeth of the other ratchet bar. A light vertical finger 47 pro ects upward from the pivotal axis 01 this ratchet pawl or dog in position to engage the overhead edge of the cloth, theprotective guide at its angular portion being cut out a short d1stance, as shown in Fig. 3, to allow the teeler finger a? complete access to the cloth. The

feeler actuated dog is slightly overbalanced on its inner side to normally press the teeler finger lightly against theedge of the cloth travelllng through the guide members.

Should the cloth swerve inwardly, the inner end of the pawljwill engage its ratchet bar on the inward movement thereof, thus shifting the carria e towardithe edge of the cloth; On the other hand, should the cloth swerve outwardly, he pointer to the-mem bracket e5 orovideo with ber 46 of the pawl drops into engagement with its actuating ratchet bar and moves the carriage slightly outward. By reason of the lightness of the construction and the direct contact of the feeler with the edge of the cloth and the fineness of the ratchet teeth, the response to any swerving movement of the cloth in 'eitherdirection is immediate, although the movement on each traverse of the ratchetbar is very slight the vibration of the ratchet bar is so rapid that it suffices to keep the carriage following the cloth edge so long as the swerving in any given direction takes place while quickly causing the carriage to move outwardly as soon as the reverse swerve of the cloth begins.

While in the preferred form of the invention as shown the shearing elements embracea rotary fly blade and a tangentially arranged'ledger blade, which are suitably arranged in relation to a protective guidefor the cloth edge, it will be understood that I do not limit myself tothat form of shearing couple.

l/Vhat I claim is:

1. In an edge shearing machine, the com bination of a shearing couple embracing thread shearing elements mounted to'position their'shearing line adjacent the edge of the cloth travelling by, and a protective guide adapted to engage the edge of the cloth and thereby prevent lateral movement of the cloth outside of said shearing line, and means for shifting the shearing elements and the guide in unison to follow the lateral 'swerving movements of the adjacent cloth edge.

' 2. In an edge shearing machine, the combination of a shearing couple embracing thread shearing elements mounted to position their shearingline adjacent the edge of the cloth travelling by, and a protective guide adaptedffto engage the edge of the cloth and thereby prevent lateral movement of the cloth" outside of said shearing line, means for shifting the shearing elements and the guide in unison to follow lateral swerving movements of the adjacent cloth edge, and means for projecting the edge threads outward beyond the shearing line to present themto the shearing elements for severance. V

3. In an edge shearing machine, the combination with a protective guide arranged to of movement of the edge of the cloth, said shearing elements and guide being mounted on a carriage movable transversely of the cloth and controlled by the lateral swerving disposed ledger blade" of thecloth to maintain the shearing line in close proximity to the edge of the cloth.

4. In an edge shearing machine, the combination witha protective guide arranged to engage the edge of the cloth and limit'its outward movement, of a thread shearing couple embracing a rotary fly blade, and a nonrotative tangentially disposed ledger blade mounted to establish a shearing line opposite gap in the protective guide in order to shear laterally projecting threads without cutting the cloth, and means for causing the guide and the shearing couple to be moved in and out in correspondence with the in and out swerving movement ofthe cloth.

5. In an edge shearing machine, the combination with a protective guide arranged to engage the edge of the cloth and limit its outward movement, of a thread shearing couple embracing arotary fly blade rotatable about a vertical axis, and a tangentially disposed ledger blade, both arranged to establish a. shearing line close to the outward limit of movement of the cloth established by saidguide, and means for axially reciprocating the shearing couple'in relation to the plane of the subtending cloth edge. 7

6. In an edge shearing machine, the combination with a protective guide arranged to embrace an edge portion of the cloth travelling by and thereby limit the outward movement of the cloth, of air blast pipes arranged to direct blasts of air through the interior of said guide to project the edge threads outwardly through a gap in said guide, shearing means arranged in close proximity to said gap to shear the outwardly projecting threads, and means for shitting the guide and the shearing means in unison in and out to follow the swerving movements of the cloth.

7 In an edge shearing machine, the combination of a transversely movable carriage, a protective guide element mounted on said carriage to embrace the edge of the travelling cloth and limit its outward swerving movement, means for directing blasts of air against that portion of the cloth travelling through said gui de to project the edge threads outwardly, shearing elements mounted on said carriage outside said guide close to saidguide and in position to sever the threads, thus projected, and means adapted to engage the edge of the cloth and cause an in and out shifting of the carriage thereby moving the shearing elements andthe guide in correspondence with the inward and outward swerving movements of the edge of the cloth. v

8. In an edge shearing machine, the combination with a carriage movable transversely of the cloth, a protective guide secured to said carriage to embrace the edge of thecloth and limit its outward movement, a ver-' tically reciprocatory carrier mounted in said carriage, shearing elements mounted on said carrier and arranged to establish a vert cal shearing line close to, and outside, the outward limit of movement permitted the cloth by said guide, and means controlled by the cloth to shift said carriage inwardly and outwardly in correspondence with the in and out swerving movements of the cloth.

9. In an edge shearing machine, the combination with a protective guide embracing an edge portion of the cloth and limiting its outward swerving movement, shearing means arranged outside of, and close to, such limit of outward movement to sever threads projecting outwardly from the edge of the cloth, an upright pivotal feeler finger arranged to contact with the edge of the cloth inside the limit of outward'movement of the cloth permitted by said guide to permit the finger to move inward and outward in accordance with the in and out movements of the cloth edge, a transversely movable carriage on which are mounted said-guide, said shearing means and said feeler finger, and carriage actuating means whose operative connection with the carriage is controlled by said finger.

10. In an. edge shearing machine, the combination of a rotary fly blade revoluble about a vertical axis, a tangentially disposed ledger blade, both fly blade and ledger blade being adjustably carried on a common support, a bearing head for rotatably supporting said fly blade, said head being slidably and adjustably secured to said common support to permit adjustment in a vertical plane, a ledger-blade supporting plate adjustably secured to said commonsupport to permit adjustment of the blade in a plane tangential to the fly blade and perpendicular to the plane of adjustment of the fly blade.

-11. In an edge shearing machine, the combination of a vertically reciprocatory carrier mounted on a horizontally movable carriage, a rotary fly bladesecured to said carrier, a

non-rotary ledger blade also secured to said carrier in tangential relation to said fly blade, and means for adjustably setting the respective blades in perpendicular adjusted relationship to each other.

12. In an edge shearing machine, the combination of a reciprocatorycarrier, a rotary fly blade secured thereto and rotatable about an axis parallel to said movement of the carrier, a ledger blade disposed in tangential relation to said fly blade, both blades being bodily adjustable in planes perpendicular to each other to secure their proper relative setting for shearing.

13. In an edge shearing machine, the combination with a protective guide embracing the edge of the cloth and limiting its outward movement, one or more blast pipes arranged to dellver compressed air through the interior of said edge embracmg guide and I outwardly through the edge portion of the guide to the shearing line to expel the edge threads, thread shearing means located closeto, but outside, such limit of movement to sever the projecting threads, and a casing surrounding said shearing means to form an ofi'take conduit for the air blast to carry away the clipped threads.

14. In a shearing machine, the combination with means for guiding the edge of the cloth thread shearing means arranged in juxtaposition thereto but outside the edge of the cloth, a reciprocatory carrier forming a support for the shearing means to reciprocate the shearing means in parallelism with the shearing line, and a cam for imparting reciprocatory movement to said carrier said cam being constructed and arranged to maintain operative relation tosaid carrier in different positions of the carrier transverse to the travel of the cloth.

15. In an edge shearing machine, the combination with a protective guide embracing the marginal portion of the cloth and limiting its outward movement, means for supplying a blast of compressed air to the interior of said guide to project threads on the edge of the cloth outward through an opening in said guide, thread shearing means located outside said guide in close relationship to said opening whereby the edge threads of the cloth are expelled through said opening into the shearing line of: the shearing means while the adjacent edge of the travelling cloth is maintained out of contact with the shearing means.

In Witness whereof I have subscribed the above specification.

CHARLES G. RICHARDSON. 

